I’ve heard about this project on the pinephone channel, seems like a free alternative long range communication system:
The night before the conference, the notion came up of a long-range radio, operating at 27MHz for low-bandwidth, high-power and very long-range (up to 500km, good for a sparse community, for getting stranded on the road and reaching your other device back home to ask for help, etc) communication, possibly negotiating alternate frequencies for faster but shorter-range communication
It’s really a shame that Puri.sm, probably because they are too busy right now, didn’t answer to them. Read more here